Book Review

From Chelsea Weibley at the Library

All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

I was excited to read this debut novel by Crime Junkie podcaster, Ashley Flowers. I listened to the audiobook through Libby (linked below) and am so glad I went with that format! The narrators (Brittany Pressley and Karissa Vacker) were spot on and made this very engaging. I read reviews by many readers who said the book came across as very “telling” instead of “showing.” I didn’t feel the same way and it was likely because the narrators were so good at reading the story it really came alive. On to a summary…

It’s been twenty years since six-year-old January Jacobs was found dead in a ditch one summer morning in her hometown of Wakarusa, Indiana. No one was ever arrested for the crime, but rumors about Krissy, her mother, have been rampant since the murder. Margot Davies was also six at the time January was found and was a friend of hers. Margot had left Wakarusa, but is now returning to care for her uncle. Margot is a reporter and is ready to investigate when five-year-old, Natalie Clark, goes missing. As Margot digs into both cases, she starts to receive notes…are they threats or concerned warnings? And are the cases really related or is Margot biased by her friendship with January?

This is a more difficult book to review because there was a lot I really liked, but also elements that fell flat for me. I liked that the chapters were from the perspectives of Margot and Krissy. I liked both of their stories and felt for both of these characters. I struggled with how much January’s story paralleled that of JonBenet Ramsey. Knowing the author’s true crime podcasting background, it felt like she was pulling too much from this real unsolved case and didn’t create an original case for Margot to solve. I would have liked to have learned more about the Natalie Clark case…it felt like that was just a name and foil to cause Margot to investigate. We did not really learn about Natalie, her family, or any other elements. I was also stunned by the ending. I am not a reader who needs a nice, neat bow, but when I got to the end of Margot’s final chapter, I actually said out loud, “Are you kidding me?!” I thought my audiobook malfunctioned!

I gave this book 3/5 on my GoodReads. The story was compelling and I looked forward to turning the audiobook back on each time I returned to it. It just had too many elements that didn’t work for me to get a higher rating.

Check out All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers for yourself at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) or the audiobook from the eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/media/8721222. Let me know what you think!